2015 Oklahoma Research Day Full Program

This document contains all abstracts from the 2015 Oklahoma Research Day held at Northeastern State University

Molecular Science for Drug Development and Biomedicine

With the avalanche of biological sequences generated in the postgenomic age, molecular science is facing an unprecedented challenge, i.e., how to timely utilize the huge amount of data to benefit human beings. Stimulated by such a challenge, a rapid development has taken place in molecular science, particularly in the areas associated with drug development and biomedicine, both experimental and theoretical. The current thematic issue was launched with the focus on the topic of “Molecular Science for Drug Development and Biomedicine”, in hopes to further stimulate more useful techniques and findings from various approaches of molecular science for drug development and biomedicine

Ultrasensitive detection of toxocara canis excretory-secretory antigens by a nanobody electrochemical magnetosensor assay.

peer reviewedHuman Toxocariasis (HT) is a zoonotic disease caused by the migration of the larval stage of the roundworm Toxocara canis in the human host. Despite of being the most cosmopolitan helminthiasis worldwide, its diagnosis is elusive. Currently, the detection of specific immunoglobulins IgG against the Toxocara Excretory-Secretory Antigens (TES), combined with clinical and epidemiological criteria is the only strategy to diagnose HT. Cross-reactivity with other parasites and the inability to distinguish between past and active infections are the main limitations of this approach. Here, we present a sensitive and specific novel strategy to detect and quantify TES, aiming to identify active cases of HT. High specificity is achieved by making use of nanobodies (Nbs), recombinant single variable domain antibodies obtained from camelids, that due to their small molecular size (15kDa) can recognize hidden epitopes not accessible to conventional antibodies. High sensitivity is attained by the design of an electrochemical magnetosensor with an amperometric readout with all components of the assay mixed in one single step. Through this strategy, 10-fold higher sensitivity than a conventional sandwich ELISA was achieved. The assay reached a limit of detection of 2 and15 pg/ml in PBST20 0.05% or serum, spiked with TES, respectively. These limits of detection are sufficient to detect clinically relevant toxocaral infections. Furthermore, our nanobodies showed no cross-reactivity with antigens from Ascaris lumbricoides or Ascaris suum. This is to our knowledge, the most sensitive method to detect and quantify TES so far, and has great potential to significantly improve diagnosis of HT. Moreover, the characteristics of our electrochemical assay are promising for the development of point of care diagnostic systems using nanobodies as a versatile and innovative alternative to antibodies. The next step will be the validation of the assay in clinical and epidemiological contexts

2013 Oklahoma Research Day Full Program

This document contains all abstracts from the 2013 Oklahoma Research Day held at the University of Central Oklahoma

11th International Coral Reef Symposium Abstracts

https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_icrs/1001/thumbnail.jp